The Miracle Worker (1979)

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All Rise...

To some people, the mere fact of Judge William Lee working is a miracle.

The Charge

Together, they accomplished the impossible.

The Case

Helen Keller (1880-1968) was one of the most inspiring figures of the 20th
century, beating the odds and living a full, rich life in spite of her
handicaps. When she was 19 months old, Helen lost her sight and hearing due to
an illness. With the love of her family and the remarkable determination of her
teacher, Anne Sullivan, Helen went on to become a notable author, political
activist and the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree
from Radcliffe College.

Helen's first steps out from the isolation of her impairment are depicted in
The Miracle Worker, an Emmy Award-winning TV movie from 1979. Drawn from
Helen's autobiography, playwright and novelist William Gibson's original
teleplay was first produced in 1957. It was also made into a Broadway play in
1959 and a theatrical feature in 1962.

Set in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on the Keller family estate, The Miracle
Worker tells the story of Anne Sullivan's first several weeks working with
Helen. Frustrated that the family's pity for young Helen has made her into a
spoiled pet, Anne serves up a regimen of tough love so that one day Helen will
be independent. At the core of her lessons is language, which Anne drills into
Helen by forming the sign language alphabet into her hand. However, it's a huge
gap between Helen's mimicking of hand gestures and her comprehension of how
words relate to actual things in the world that are, to her, shrouded in
darkness and silence.

This segment of Helen's life is really Anne's story. The Miracle
Worker is a showcase for the talents of two amazing actresses but Anne is
the character at the center of it all. Patty Duke (Valley of the Dolls) played Helen in the
stage production and the 1962 film (winning an Oscar), but in this television
remake she graduates into the role of Anne (for which she won an Emmy). Duke
injects firecracker energy to the proceedings with a performance designed to
stand out from the rest of the cast. Anne's formidable confidence makes it seem
as though she's either unaware of or unconcerned about the family's southern
sensibilities. A couple of times, Duke seems to be operating on a different
level than her fellow cast members—her character is the only one allowed a
few zingers in her dialogue—but it's a solid performance. After all, it
takes a strong personality to deal with Helen.

Where the script doesn't properly serve the character, however, is when it
comes to Anne's personal background. Anne is also visually impaired, but her
eyesight was partially restored through a series of operations. This detail is
mentioned a couple of times but it's never dealt with in any substantial way,
and I found it somewhat confusing at first. Furthermore, Anne is haunted by the
memory of her brother and she occasionally hears his voice. This side of her
personality does not develop toward a payoff and it's a distraction.

Melissa Gilbert (Little House on
the Prairie) puts in a fierce performance as Helen. She's a wild child who
is loved by her family but isolated because she hasn't any way to communicate
meaningfully with anyone. Significantly, and contrary to my expectations, she's
anything but helpless. Helen may appear to be out of control at times but she
has an awareness of her surroundings and an understanding of what she can get
from people. In many ways, she's like a child testing the boundaries of her
world. Gilbert's speechless performance makes Helen a force to be reckoned with
and not merely a pitiable character.

From the conservative father figure to the bratty older brother, the
supporting characters are given a satisfying level of development. Gibson's
script avoids simplistic characterizations to present the Keller family as
intelligent people coping with a difficult situation. The climactic breakthrough
moment does stray a little outside the bounds of credibility because so much
happens all at once. Still, it packs an emotional punch that makes it plain to
see why this story was so popular in its day.

While the power of story and the performances especially still hold up, the
technical quality of the production is not well preserved. The full frame
picture looks about comparable to what might be expected of a poor quality
television broadcast. There is an overall pleasing warm color palette but
sometimes it looks like levels are boosted from faded and aged elements. The
image is very soft and finer details are lost. There is a limited but noticeable
amount of dust and stray pops on the picture. The weak, mono soundtrack takes
some getting used to and I was struggling to hear the dialogue during the first
few minutes of the movie. However, some of the best moments take place in
silence such as the extended scene when Anne tries to instruct Helen on table
manners. Even without clear dialogue and a pristine picture, the great physical
performances by Duke and Gilbert still hold up.

This DVD includes a photo gallery of promotional stills as a bonus. An
alternate English audio track features audio descriptions for the blind. There
are no optional subtitles available but viewers with closed captioning decoders
will be able to follow the script using that feature.

The Verdict

The celebrated television production of this inspirational story isn't well
served on this DVD release. Nevertheless, it's worth a rental for the strong
performances.